Anatomy of a figure

This figure shows the name of several matplotlib elements composing a figure

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.ticker import AutoMinorLocator, MultipleLocator

np.random.seed(19680801)

X = np.linspace(0.5, 3.5, 100)
Y1 = 3+np.cos(X)
Y2 = 1+np.cos(1+X/0.75)/2
Y3 = np.random.uniform(Y1, Y2, len(X))

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(8, 8))
ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, aspect=1)


def minor_tick(x, pos):
    if not x % 1.0:
        return ""
    return f"{x:.2f}"

ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(MultipleLocator(1.000))
ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(AutoMinorLocator(4))
ax.yaxis.set_major_locator(MultipleLocator(1.000))
ax.yaxis.set_minor_locator(AutoMinorLocator(4))
# FuncFormatter is created and used automatically
ax.xaxis.set_minor_formatter(minor_tick)

ax.set_xlim(0, 4)
ax.set_ylim(0, 4)

ax.tick_params(which='major', width=1.0)
ax.tick_params(which='major', length=10)
ax.tick_params(which='minor', width=1.0, labelsize=10)
ax.tick_params(which='minor', length=5, labelsize=10, labelcolor='0.25')

ax.grid(linestyle="--", linewidth=0.5, color='.25', zorder=-10)

ax.plot(X, Y1, c=(0.25, 0.25, 1.00), lw=2, label="Blue signal", zorder=10)
ax.plot(X, Y2, c=(1.00, 0.25, 0.25), lw=2, label="Red signal")
ax.plot(X, Y3, linewidth=0,
        marker='o', markerfacecolor='w', markeredgecolor='k')

ax.set_title("Anatomy of a figure", fontsize=20, verticalalignment='bottom')
ax.set_xlabel("X axis label")
ax.set_ylabel("Y axis label")

ax.legend()


def circle(x, y, radius=0.15):
    from matplotlib.patches import Circle
    from matplotlib.patheffects import withStroke
    circle = Circle((x, y), radius, clip_on=False, zorder=10, linewidth=1,
                    edgecolor='black', facecolor=(0, 0, 0, .0125),
                    path_effects=[withStroke(linewidth=5, foreground='w')])
    ax.add_artist(circle)


def text(x, y, text):
    ax.text(x, y, text, backgroundcolor="white",
            ha='center', va='top', weight='bold', color='blue')


# Minor tick
circle(0.50, -0.10)
text(0.50, -0.32, "Minor tick label")

# Major tick
circle(-0.03, 4.00)
text(0.03, 3.80, "Major tick")

# Minor tick
circle(0.00, 3.50)
text(0.00, 3.30, "Minor tick")

# Major tick label
circle(-0.15, 3.00)
text(-0.15, 2.80, "Major tick label")

# X Label
circle(1.80, -0.27)
text(1.80, -0.45, "X axis label")

# Y Label
circle(-0.27, 1.80)
text(-0.27, 1.6, "Y axis label")

# Title
circle(1.60, 4.13)
text(1.60, 3.93, "Title")

# Blue plot
circle(1.75, 2.80)
text(1.75, 2.60, "Line\n(line plot)")

# Red plot
circle(1.20, 0.60)
text(1.20, 0.40, "Line\n(line plot)")

# Scatter plot
circle(3.20, 1.75)
text(3.20, 1.55, "Markers\n(scatter plot)")

# Grid
circle(3.00, 3.00)
text(3.00, 2.80, "Grid")

# Legend
circle(3.70, 3.80)
text(3.70, 3.60, "Legend")

# Axes
circle(0.5, 0.5)
text(0.5, 0.3, "Axes")

# Figure
circle(-0.3, 0.65)
text(-0.3, 0.45, "Figure")

color = 'blue'
ax.annotate('Spines', xy=(4.0, 0.35), xytext=(3.3, 0.5),
            weight='bold', color=color,
            arrowprops=dict(arrowstyle='->',
                            connectionstyle="arc3",
                            color=color))

ax.annotate('', xy=(3.15, 0.0), xytext=(3.45, 0.45),
            weight='bold', color=color,
            arrowprops=dict(arrowstyle='->',
                            connectionstyle="arc3",
                            color=color))

ax.text(4.0, -0.4, "Made with https://matplotlib.org",
        fontsize=10, ha="right", color='.5')

plt.show()

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References

The use of the following functions, methods, classes and modules is shown in this example:

import matplotlib
matplotlib.pyplot.figure
matplotlib.axes.Axes.text
matplotlib.axis.Axis.set_minor_formatter
matplotlib.axis.Axis.set_major_locator
matplotlib.axis.Axis.set_minor_locator
matplotlib.patches.Circle
matplotlib.patheffects.withStroke
matplotlib.ticker.FuncFormatter